Cutter for turntable covers



Sept. 1, 1931. BONSIEUR CUTTER FOR TURNTABLE COVERS Filed Jan. 21, 1929 I? a phonograph turntable.

Patented Sept. 1, 1931 i bran as PATENT OFFICE,

LE BQNSIEUR, :5 ELYRIA, OHIO, .ASSIGNOR TO THE GENERAL INDUSTRIES COMPANY,

- 0F ZI-LYR-EA, SHIQ, A CQRPOEATIGH 6F 013110 Curran TURNTABLE, 'oovnns Application filed January 21, less. Serial no. 333,879.

My'invention relates to improvements in ph nogr aph turntables, and relates particularly to a. novel mechanism for applying circular cloth covers to the attached surface of lnthe class of phonograph mechanisms lsnown generally as gramophones, a rotatable support for'the disc phonograph records is eonunonlyinthe form of a. rotatable turn table disc, generally made of metal, although different materials have been used. I

Usually, also, these turntables are provided with a tubular hub having a conical bore. In order to improve the acoustic prop erties of the phonograph and to avoid injury to the relatively soft disc phonograph records and to increase driving friction of the turntable with the supported record, such turi'itables are usually covered with a layer of soft material, such as a layer of felt, velvet, or the like, coat in the form of a disc, and glued to the top surface of the turntable.

Such practice, priorto myinvention, has been expensive in the preparation ofthe covered turntables, and the results have been non-uniform, in that it is difficult to glue or otherwise adhcslvely alhX a disc of tentilema terial to the top surfaces of the turntable disc, with any degree of regularity and corp and pusl centrieity of the peripherz-rl'por ions of the cloth disc and the turntable'disc.

The cloth is fleizible'and yields to pulling stresses and even though out to true di e fcr'm initially, in application itis :ult to effect adhesion by an interpos o. cementitious'substance, such as glue, without putting portions of the cover; under greater stretc ling stress than other portions,

so that the disc form is lost and portions of the cover extend fur her outwardly than oth portions. I I

l it h as been dirllcultto adhesively allix such a cloth cover to a phonograph turntable upper surface without leaving a rough selvage edge at the periphery of the cloth disc, and many relatively expensive expedients'have beenresorted to in the attemptto. conceal this irregu ar salvage edge of the cloth. I y

it is an object, therefore, of the present Another object of my invention is to ac complish the aforesaid object with a cover having aregular, slightly beveled edge portion, largely depressed below the surface of the other portions of the turntable.

Another object of myinvention is to accomplish the preceding objects in an inexpensive manner.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved mechanism for covering phonograph turntables in an inexpensive, efficient manner.

Other objects of my invention and the invention itself will become apparent by reference to the following description of an embodiment thereof which is'more fully explained by the accompanying drawingsillustrating the same.

Referring to-the drawings. I

Fig. 1 illustrates a plan View of covering material superposed over a" phonograph turntable to beco-vered, indicatedin dotted lines. -Fi .g. 2 is a viewpartially'in side elevation, and partially in longitudinal medial section,

of the-apparatus employed for covering a Fig. 4 is a sectional View of a fragment of the resultant covered phonograph turntable. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the sheet metal turntable before covering.

Referring now tothe different figures of drawings in all of which like parts are designated bylilre reference characters, the turntable preferably made of sheet metal, is illustrated at 1 in the different figures, and comprises a hub 2 centrally aliixed to the under-' side of the turntable, said' hub preferably having a frustro-conicallyboard portion 21, intowhich the taperedturntable supporting sectional form, by

disposed portions of the turntable driving shaft of the usual phonograph may project.

'downturned rim flange 24. Intermediate the rim flange 24 and the table portion 22, I provide an annular shallow groove 19, adapted to receive the peripheral edge of the cloth when affixed to the turntable, as shown in Fig. 4. This groove is defined by an inner downward sloping wall 17 and an outwardly disposed upwardly inclined wall 18.

The turntable is thus preliminarily formed with the groove 19 disposed exactly concentric with the axis of the turntable, and having a bottom portion of sharply defined U- the converging inner and outer walls 17 and 18. Or expressed in another way, the turntable portion 22 has an annular downwardly inclined portion 17 which abuts with an abruptly upwardly inclined annular portion 18, which supports the flanged rim 24 of the turntable.

The turntable of Fig. 5 is first given a coat of glue, shellac, or other adhesive substance, over its entire turntable portion disposed inwardly from the lowermost portion of the groove 19, the portion 25 of the uppersurface of the turntable disc, disposed outwardly from the groove 19, being left free from the adhesive. This may be safeguarded by covering the portion 25 with a guarding annulus while the adhesive is applied to the inwardly upper surface, or by the operator wiping the superfluous adhesive from the portion 25 before it is dried, and preferably after the cloth is cut, as later described.

. To the prepared upper surface of the turntable, a sheet ofthe covering material, larger than the turntable, and in any desired form,

such as in the form of a square of the material 3, shown in Fig. 1, is laid on to the turntable and then pressed down tightly thereon so that the portion of the upper surface of the turntable coated with adhesive, will be caused to adhere tightly to the portion of the cloth disposed within the inner dotted circle indicated at 19, Fig. 1, and the'cloth V is, by pressure, caused to lie smooth on the said turntable surface, with the outer portions ofthe cloth indicated at 30, Figs. 2 and 3, extending outwardly over the bottom of 3 the groove 19.

The covered turntable with the excess portion joinedwith the cemented portion of the cloth disposed inwardly from the bottom of the groove 19, is then placed on the tapere'; post 4, with the tapered end of the post proected into the frustal conical bore portion 21 of the turntable hub 2.

he post 4 is rotatably supported by the base 5 within'bearings 32 and 42, adapted to permit free rotation of the post. i The base 5 is carried on a support 6, which also carries by a bifurcated standard 29, a wheel 28, and by a standard 15 and cross piece 14, a cutting element including a supporting stem 10, journal-ed at 27 in the free end of the cross piece, for vertical reciprocation.

To the top end of the stem 10, a handle 11 is affixed, and a compression spring 13 is interposed between the handle and the cross piece 14 to retract the stem. The wheel 28 is positioned for rotation on a shaft 33 extending transversely through the forks 34 and 35 of the support 29, being rotatable in a plane disposed at right angles to the plane of rotation of the turntable 1, rotatable with the post 1 by the meeting of the converging lateral pea ripheral surfaces 38, meeting preferably at approximately an angle of 30.

This angularity of meeting surfaces is found to be very efficient for the purpose intended, of forming the knife edge for cutting 1',

the cloth and for smoothing down the cut ting edge 20 of the cloth, as illustrated in Fig. 4, as subsequently described, although a cutting edge formed by converging lateral surfaces of the knife, disposed at relatively different angles, may be efficiently employed within the purview of my invention. The portion 30 of the cloth cut away from the inner portion is then removed by the operator and any of the still wet adhesive adhering to the upper portion of the table outwardly from. the cover 3, is then wiped off by the operator before dry.

After having performed the first step of effecting adhesion between the inwardly disposed surface 22 of the turntable and corresponding areas of a sheet of cloth 3, inltially larger than the turntable, and the turntable being placed on the post 4 by its hub 2, as described, and the supporting roller 28 underlying the grooved portion 19 of the turntable, the knife 7 being placed in the groove 19 by pressure preferably manually effected on the handle 11 against the power of the spring 13, cutting of the free lateral portions 30 of the cloth 3 is effected.

Cutting of the cloth will be eflected while the downward manual pressure on the handle 11 continues, by rotation of the turntable 1 on the post 4, which preferably is rotatably journaled at 32 and 42 in the supporting post 5. Rotation of the turntable thus effected, brings all portions of the cloth 20, lying within the annular depression 19, under the cutting edge 36 of the knife 7 and a shearill] ing off of the cloth border 30 is accomplished,

a portion of the groove 19, the supporting roller 28 meanwhile supporting the turntable groove portion during cutting, without retarding its free rotation.

The turntable 1, after the shearing of the excess cloth 30, can be removed by an operator from the post 4 while the handle 11 is relieved of manual pressure.

The lateral surface 38, bordering the knife edge 36, during the above operation, presses the selvage edge portion, indicated by dotted lines at 20, Fig. 4, into the form indicated by the solid lines thereat, and the thinned edge thus formed is carried by the shoulder 18 abutting the groove 19.

Having thus described my invention in a particular embodiment, I am fully aware that numerous and extensive departures may bomade from the embodiment of my invention, hereinbefore described, but Without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim:

1. In a mechanism for trimming off a surment with the cloth while the turntable is ro- I tated, said cloth being pressed during cutting between the cutting edge of said knife and the supported peripheral portion of the turntable.

2. In a mechanism for trimming off a surplus border portion from a phonograph turntable cover adhesively secured to the top of the turntable, comprising means for rotatably supporting the turntable by its hub portion, means for non-frictionally supporting the peripheral portion of the turntable, a cutting means comprising a knife cutting edge, adapted to be pressed into cutting engagement with the cloth while the turntable is rotated, said cloth being pressed during cutting between the cutting edge of said knife and the supported peripheral portion of the turntable, said knife being of disc form, and a reciprocable support for said knife, said knife rotatably journalled on said support, and a common support for said knife support,

said turntable supportand-said nonfrictional support. 7

' 8; In a mechanism for trimming off a surplus border portion from a phonograph turntable cover adhesively secured to the'top of 1 theturntable, comprising means for rotatably supporting the turntable by its hub portion, means for non-frictionally supporting the peripheral portion of the turntable, a

cutting means comprising a knife cutting edge, adapted tobe pressed into cutting engagement with the cloth while the turntable is rotated, said cloth being pressed during cutting between the cutting edge of said knife 7 and the supported peripheral portion of tln turntable, said knife beingin the form of rotatable disc cutter, a stem supporting said disc, said disc j'ournalled in said stem, and a support for the stem, said stem reciprocable in said support, and a spring for retracting;

the stem to withdraw the cutter from engagement with the cloth.

l. In a mechanism for trimming off a surplus border portion from a phonograph turntable cover adhesively secured to the top of the turntable, comprising means for rotatably supporting the turntable by its hub portion, means for non-frictionally supporting the peripheral portion of the turntable, and

mechanism including a beveled rotary cutting disc adapted to resiliently exert pressure while the turntable is rotated, and to compress the selvage edge of the cloth to effect a tapering in thickness and to provide a smooth cloth edge,said cloth being pressed during cuttingbetween the said beveled ro-' .tary cutting disc on one side and said supported peripheral portion of the turntable on.

the other side.

5. In a mechanism for trimming off a surthe turntable, comprising means for rotatably supporting the turntable by its hub portion, mean for non-frictionally supporting the peripheral portion of the turntable, and mechanism including a beveled rotary cutting disc adapted to resiliently exert pres sure while the turntable is rotated, and to compress the selvage edge of the cloth toeffect atapering in thickness and to provide a smooth cloth edge, said beveled rotary cutting disc comprising a rotatable pressure stirface inclined inwardly and upwardly to the plane of rotation of the turntable, said cloth being pressed during cutting between the said beveled rotary cutting-disc and its rotatable pressure surface on the one side, and

the turntable, comprising means for rotatably" supporting the turntable by its hub portion,

- e 105 plus border portion from a phonograph turntable cover adhesively secured to the top of 'a cutting means comprising a knife cutting edge, adapted to be pressed into cutting engagement with the cloth While theturntable is rotated, a roller in pressure engagement with the noncovered side thereof at a point approximately opposite the point of engagement of said knifefwith the covered side of the turntable, said cloth being pressed during i cutting between the cutting edge of said knife and the supported portion of the turntable.

7 In a mechanism for trimming off a surplus border portion from a phonograph turn- ;table cover adhesively secured to the top of the turntable,comprising means for rotata- 15 bly supporting the turntable, means for non frietionally supporting the peripheral por;

tion of the turntable, a cutting means eomprising a knife cutting edge adapted to be pressed into. cutting engagement With the cloth while the turntable is rotated, said cloth being pressed during cutting between the cutting edge of the knife and the supported peripheral portion of the turntable.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature this 17th dayof January, 1929.

7 LE BONSIEUR. 

